Young Xehanort
Young Xehanort, referred to as the Unknown (謎の男 Nazo no Otoko) and the Mysterious Figure in the North American, PAL, and Final Mix versions of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, is a boss in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and one of the main antagonists in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. This version of Xehanort is Xehanort as a teenager and was given the power to travel through and manipulate time itself to help his older self accomplish his goal of containing his essence in thirteen different vessels. Story Pre-''Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep'' The Young Xehanort lived on Destiny Islands until the day when his future heartless arrived and told him of the future, Ansem then gave his younger self the power to time travel and collect all of their other incarnations. Xehanort did this and eventually returned to his own time. ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' As Terra, Ventus, and Aqua return separately to the Land of Departure remains, they turn around when they feel a presence and find a hooded figure who challenges them to a battle. After the battle, they seem to have lost sight of the mysterious figure, and prepare to walk away when they spot him again, but he only walks away in the direction of the castle and disappears, fading out of sight. ''Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance'' Xehanort's youthful self is revived along with all of the other Xehanorts and appeared numerous times to Sora and Riku as they traverse the Realm of Sleep and awaken several worlds previously destroyed by Ansem. During these appearances, Xehanort would taunt the heroes as he recruited other versions of himself throughout time and space to complete a new Organization XIII under Master Xehanort's orders. The original Organization was meant to recruit thirteen strong beings to be used to make clones of Master Xehanort through the process of transferring portions of his heart into them, but this failed as most of the members were either traitorous, not fit for purpose or were simply destroyed by Sora and Riku. Young Xehanort then embarked on his mission to find suitable replacements; various versions of himself, throughout time. To this end, Xehanort recruited Ansem and Xemnas to the new Organization. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Ansem once traveled back in time and set this younger version of his former incarnation on his journey as a fail safe should Xemnas' Organization XIII prove to be useless in his plans. After Sora fights Xemnas which damages the former's heart, Xehanort puts him into a deep sleep, planning to use him as the final vessel. Sora is taken to the Organization's former headquarters in The World that Never Was , now submerged in the Realm of Sleep, while Riku and King Mickey attempt to save him. Xehanort impedes their attempts and engages Riku in a brutal fight, where Riku comes through victorious, but Master Xehanort returns immediately after the fight to assume control over his new army. Young Xehanort took his place amongst the ranks under his older self's rule and escaped with all his counterparts, once Riku, Mickey , Lea , Donald , and Goofy prevented Master Xehanort from transferring a portion of his heart into Sora to make him his final vessel. Abilities Young Xehanort is an incredibly powerful being. He was granted the power to manipulate and travel through time and space by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, which also grants him resistance to Stop spells. He wields two weapons that bear a striking resemblance to Xemnas's Ethereal Blades, but appear to have hilts, which many of Xemnas's blades do not, but they also resemble some clock hands or clock arrows. The blades are made of light blue energy and the black handles are somewhat reminiscent of the Terminus and Ruination Ethereal Blades. The blades can be combined into a dual-blade, and extend to be lashed out like a whip. Young Xehanort wields these weapons with a reverse grip, similar to the unorthodox way Ventus wields his Keyblade. Young Xehanort has the ability to wield a Keyblade similar to No Name in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep he is immune to all status effects and possesses incredible speed and agility. Additionally, he is able to duplicate himself, summon pillars of fire, use a countless number of lasers and turn himself invisible. He also has access to a plethora of the numerous protagonists' most powerful attacks, such as Meteor, Mega Flare, Raging Storm and Tornado. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, he has the abilities to enter the World of Sleep, summon Dream Eaters, open Keyholes and the Corridors of Darkness, shown to rewind time itself in order to regenerate health and has the ability to wield the No Name Keyblade. Weapons During his battle against Terra, Aqua and Ventus he uses two glowing blue swords which are similar to Xemnas's Ethereal Blades. It can be combined into a dual-blade, and extend to be lashed out like a whip.In first phase of his battle during Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, he uses the No Name Keyblade that can be use as a whip like Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. During the second phase he sends out phantoms, similar to the clones he creates in ''Birth by Sleep ''that use his dual-blades. Young Xehanort's Ethereal Blade KHBBS.png Young Xehanort's Dual Ethereal Blade KHBBS.png Young Xehanort's Keyblade (Art) KH3D.png Strategy Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Young Xehanort is a powerful boss and one of the stronger enemies in the game. Its attacks are varied and hard to predict, similar to those of the Lingering Sentiment. Not only is it immune to all status effects, but it has a great deal of HP as well. The boss is very swift, with its attacks generally reducing the player's HP to 1. Young Xehanort has a variety of attacks, all of which can kill the player instantly if unprepared. It mainly attacks by battering the player with its swords, and can replicate itself to attack players from all sides. Another attack involves it shooting an X-shaped blast of energy at the player, similar to Vanitas and Vanitas Remnant. Young Xehanort has an attack similar to Sonic Blade in which it quickly darts around hitting the player and hoisting him or her high into the air. Its can also shoot a tornado at the player which, if hit, will blow away the player's deck commands, similar to Marluxia's Whirlwind to the Void Sleight. Young Xehanort can use Mega Flare, wherein it shoots a large fireball that explodes on contact with the player. It can also conjure many blue orbs that shoot lasers. Young Xehanort has an attack similar to Collision Magnet where it leaps into the air and pulls players up with an energy whip to damage them. This attack is possibly one of Young Xehanort's most dangerous attacks, as it will often be followed up by a combo before the player is able to recover. It can utilize Raging Storm, wherein it approaches the player with 3 fiery pillars revolving around it. Young Xehanort can also cast a spell that rewinds time a few seconds, healing it. It can cast a meteor spell. Young Xehanort also attacks with a web-like energy blast which, if it connects, traps players, leaving them with roughly four seconds to break free. It can turn invisible to elude players, leaving only the swords and some distorted areas of the battle ground to indicate its location. Despite this, it is still vulnerable to damage. It's also able to defend itself with Renewal block which slightly heals its HP, similar to Terra and Ven's Renewal Block and Aqua's Renewal Barrier. As its HP dwindles, it may start to combine its attacks for maximum damage. Examples include combining Raging Storm with its sword swings and the web blast with its laser orbs. If Young Xehanort snares the player with its Collision Magnet, it will often follow it up with another Collision Magnet, a sword combo, or a Whirlwind to the Void, none of which the player is given the chance to avoid, resulting in an immediate game over. Collision Magnet can be avoided easiest by simply dashing towards the Unknown when he jumps in the air. Collision Magnet also seems to be canceled if Young Xehanort pulls you up against a wall. Young Xehanort's version of Mega Flare can also Ignite the player. Young Xehanort will attack whenever an opening to do so presents itself, but it is easy to heal safely by simply dashing far away from the Unknown first, with either Slide, Dodge Roll, or Cartwheel. It is also somewhat easy to guard against the Young Xehanort's attacks by mashing, so the player can also heal by using Renewal Block or Renewal Barrier. Because the Young Xehanort leaves little time for the player to act, it is unwise to use any advanced or ultimate commands, as they take too long to fire and reload. If you get lucky, Shotlocks are also good options, but the Young Xehanort likes to evade the targeting reticule, and can often become invincible midway through the attack, as well as casting Cure on itself. If the player decides to rely on Shotlocks, they should stock many Elixirs in order to make sure their Focus Gauge never runs out. D-Link's are also ill advised, as Young Xehanort may turn invisible in response. Finally, the Keyblade and Finish Command equipped are not very important, as Young Xehanort leaves no time for Keyblade strikes. The player's Keyblade should be chosen only for it's stat boosts, preferably towards the Attack stat. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance The safest and simplest way to defeat Young Xehanort is to simply use a deck of 2-4 Cure-type commands, and fill the rest with Thunder Surge commands. Although Fire Surge is equally effective as a command, the Thunderbolt Command Style, triggered by the Thunder Surges, has an easier time hitting Young Xehanort than Firestorm does. With this deck, the player can basically use Thunder Surge over and over, even when Young Xehanort is invisible, damaging Young Xehanort and often knocking him out of his combos. The player should make sure to use Thunder Surge so that he goes through Young Xehanort and winds up a short distance past it, rather than next to it, but should dash away instead if Young Xehanort is right next to the player, as Thunder Surge has a tiny but noticeable start-up lag. Thunder Surge can even be used as a pseudo-dash in order to avoid the Young Xehanort's techniques, like his Collision Magnet. If the player is ever hit by an attack, he should immediately start dashing away, normally, and heal with the Cures as soon as he is clear from Young Xehanort. Even after setting up a working deck and overall strategy, victory against Young Xehanort relies primarily on luck, due to its penchant for using unavoidable, instant-death combos. To provide for defense, Riku should equip Dark Barrier, Counter Aura, Leaf Bracer, Second Chance, Once More, and Slow Block. His Command Deck should include homing attacks like Balloonga or Dark Firaga, as well as powerful attacks like Dark Splicer and Shadowbreaker, and healing commands like Curaga. Also, make sure to have two Spirits that have healing commands, like a Meow Wow or a Komory Bat. Young Xehanort is an aggressive fighter and it can be difficult to score hits on him as he can trap Riku in a flurry of combo attacks that rapidly drain his health. Dark Barrier followed by Counter Aura is the most effective way of damaging him, although keep in mind that some of his attacks are unblockable and should be evaded using Shadow Slide. Xehanort tends to warp away from projectiles and attack commands but it is possible to use them against him when he pauses to launch his own ranged attacks. Be extra cautious if he shoots dark projectiles at Riku, they inflict Slow so quickly cure it with Esuna or a Panacea if Slow Block is not equipped. Make sure to watch how he warps around the arena, because it will signal which attack he'll use, and it gives you enough time to charge up a powerful attack, such as Meteor Crash, for a big damage payoff. If he teleports constantly from right to left, he's about to charge at you. He will teleport like this twice, and once he warps the fourth time, get ready to block. But if he's a fair distance away from you, he'll start teleporting from side to side again, but he'll gradually get closer to you. After he teleports the third time in this manner, use Dark Barrier to block the lasers, or you could end up getting insta-killed (if you don't have Second Chance or Once More). Once Young Xehanort's health has been depleted, he will freeze time and warp into the giant Clock that appears in the centre of the arena. Attack the Clock quickly until the option to perform a Reality Shift appears. This will trigger the final stage of the battle. If Riku takes too long to activate the Reality Shift,then Young Xehanort will rewind time to the beginning of the fight and regain some of his health (approximately two and a half life bars). His health will have to be depleted again in order to have another chance to perform the Reality Shift. In the final stage of the fight, Young Xehanort remains inside the Clock which is now vulnerable to attack. Whilst he doesn't attack Riku directly, he creates clones of himself to defend the Clock. These clones are invincible and will attempt to swarm Riku with continuous combos and projectile attacks, whilst it is possible to block these attacks, it is safer to use Shadow Slide to evade them. During the brief moments when no clones appear, the Clock is open to attack. Be warned though, if too much time passes and Riku fails to destroy the Clock, Xehanort will rewind time to the start of the fight, but will only have two and a half bars of health. Gallery Category:Organization XIII Category:Humans Category:Swordsmen